Council candidate's beliefs rooted in 'common sense'

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, February 12, 2008

NORWALK -- It was 43 years ago when a 7-year-old boy stood in front of the state capitol in Vermont handing out materials for the political campaign of the late Robert F. Kennedy.

At the time, all the elementary-school student wanted was the free book covers that campaign managers were giving away to young volunteers.

But as the little boy grew up, the philosophy of the Democratic Party rooted itself in his consciousness and he learned that just "because something is your right, doesn't mean you're going to get it."

Michael Geake was determined he would be the man that would stand and speak out for the disadvantaged and the underserved.

"You take care of the people who can't take care of themselves," he said.

And these days, as the man who is running as an At-Large candidate to represent Norwalk with an endorsement from District B, Geake is hopping on his electric scooter and taking his agenda to make Norwalk a better community door-to-door.

But when residents look out their window and see the man riding on his "gimp-mobile," they shouldn't confuse his disability with his abilities.

"I'm hell on wheels," Geake said. " As my disability has gotten worse, I've become more of a fighter. I have learned to demand what is my due."

Geake acknowledges it's his disability, "Charcot-Marie-Tooth" disease that has made him "the pain in the ass he is today."

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is an inherited disorder of nerves that is characterized by loss of muscle tissue and touch sensation, predominantly in the feet and legs but also in the hands and arms in the advanced stages of disease.

The disease, which Geake said is a form of Muscular Dystrophy, is presently incurable.

"This has very much influenced my personality," he said. "But it's not going to slow me down."

Geake said he is running a campaign based on a theme of "common sense" and among his core issues are "flooding, eminent domain and a common-sense budget."

He said residents shouldn't have to worry their basements will flood with each new rain and citizens and business owners shouldn't be kicked out of their dwellings for development.

Putting more police on the streets and shoring up the city's infrastructure are also high on his list.

Politics comes naturally for Geake whose first memory was watching his father, Kenneth, on Election Day in 1960.

"My father came home, washed and shaved, and put on his good clothes and went out to vote," he said. "My parents were not political but politically aware."

His father died in 1997 but his mother, Barbara, is still living.

Geake, 50, said in his hometown in Vermont, city government and politics were very important to people. He said once a year, the townsfolk got together and hammered out issues that affected the community before voting.

"You screamed and hollered at neighbors and then later on had a pot-luck dinner and you were fine for the rest of the year," he said. "It was the screwiest system but it works."

But maybe that's why Geake is not afraid to speak his mind at community and commission meetings and also take a different route if necessary to get what he wants -- like his wife, Mary, who he met on the Internet when she was a police dispatcher for the Ocean Pine Police Department in Maryland.

The couple eventually went out on their first date at a restaurant in Ocean City, MD., on April Fools Day.

"I drove 125 miles for our first date," he said. "I knew that first night I was not letting this woman get away, though she didn't feel that way about me."

Apparently, she changed her mind.

It's Saturday and cold beer is on ice for guests and Geake and his wife are celebrating their seventh anniversary at their home on Elmwood Avenue. They arrived in the city on New Years Day in 2003 and settled into their South Norwalk home.

Geake said they deliberately by-passed more affluent neighborhoods and cities like Stamford because they wanted to live in a community rich in diversity.

"I like this town and its mix of blue collar and white collar," he said. "It's a great little town. I like the mix we have."

Geake said while he wants Norwalk to grow and prosper, "I don't want it to be not far from where it's at now to be honest."

And what started as a young boy who grew up watching his father holler at former CBS anchorman, Walter Cronkite, as he delivered somber news from around the country, has blossomed into a champion for the less privileged.

Geake said he may walk with a cane and use an electric scooter but he trained in three different martial arts for 20 years and is not the type of guy anyone wants to go up against.

"I do fight and I fight with everything at my disposal," Geake said. "I will fight for the people that need fighting for."

And as for why he chose to become a Democrat?

"The Republicans wouldn't have me," he laughed.

City editor James S. Walker can be reached at (203) 354-1050 or jswalker@thehour.com